Getting to Know: Aaron Dean

This is part of a regular feature, which will normally run on Saturdays, and will appear on the pages of the Grand Haven Tribune and online at grandhaventribune.com.

This week, we’re featuring Aaron Dean.

What’s your current job? Assistant Principal, Lakeshore Middle School

Readers would be surprised to learn that: I email poetry to my wife, Angel. Not original poetry, but poetry.

If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would you pick and why? I feel like I should say people like Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela or Maya Angelou. But a dinner party with Bruce Springsteen, Will Ferrell, Tiny Fey, Garrison Keillor, Billy Collins and Angel would be really spectacular.

What’s the coolest place you’ve ever visited? Brazil during the 2014 World Cup.

What are your hobbies? Reading, soccer, running, camping, fishing.

What’s your favorite restaurant? Depends on what I’m in the mood for. Fricano’s, Clover Bar, JW’s, Tip-A-Few, Stanz, Station Grill are the local places and whatever new amazing place my step brother-in-law takes us to in Chicago.

Favorite book? I’ve changed the question to a plural. Favorite books? “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls is timeless and still makes me get teary eyed. The “Education of Little Tree” by Forrest Carter was the first book my wife and I read together. “A Leadership Moment” by Michael Useem for how it changed my perspective of leadership. Lastly, “Calvin and Hobbes” or “The Far Side” because I love reading them with my kids.

What class was the most beneficial to you? My last year of elementary school. Mr. Formsma and Mr. Eidson were incredibly influential and part of why I ended up in education.

Have you ever met any celebrities? Coming back from Brazil in 2014 we landed in Miami at the same time the U.S. National Team landed. Spent time in baggage claim with many members of the team and sat in the terminal waiting for our connection with Clint Dempsey. He’s really nice.

What’s your can’t-live-without piece of technology? My watch. Early is on time and on time is late!

What’s your favorite app? Candy Crush is my guilty pleasure.

If you weren’t in your current position, what would you like to do? I love sports so something connected to that.

If you could travel back in time to any certain era or event, when/where would you pick and why? I recently read “Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher” which is a book about Edward Curtis and his attempt to document the language, music, religion and everyday life of Native Americans around the 1900s. There was also an exhibit of his photographs recently displayed at the Muskegon Museum of Art. So, if I could pick any time it would be the Americas Pre-Columbian.

Who was the biggest influence on your life? My parents, teachers, and coaches.

What’s your favorite movie or TV show? Whatever my wife and I decide to binge watch over the summer.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Slow down and be in the moment.

What do you love about West Michigan? The fact that it offers so much variety for outdoor activities.

Do you have any pets? A sweet rescue dog named General Gustav but who goes by Gus.